Gates of Destiny
by Ancient Shadow Dragon-Wolf
Summary: There are two warring Kingdoms. They are the Kingdom of the Dragons and the Kingdom of the Phoenixs. Though there is a stretch of land between them where other species roam. There is a band of rouges called The Pack. They are a group of misfits, but they are a family. The Leader takes in the last of the dragons. Will their group stay the way it is? Or, will the war wander?
1. CHAPTER ONE:FALL OF THE DRAGON KINGDOM

**Gates of Destiny**

**Chapter 1: Fall of the Dragon Kingdom.**

**(Akefia's POV)**

I couldn't believe this! It was so odd to think that in a few more days I would be the new king. I couldn't take this at all! I didn't want to be king! I wanted to be free but I also didn't think I could handle this at all.

I flopped on my on my bed sighing as I looked up at my ceiling. There was a knock at the door and I sat up.

"Come in," I said and my two twin siblings came in. Amane and Ryou were only about ten. "Hey you two."

"We were just worried about you," Amane said as they sat on either side of me. Ryou leaned his head on my shoulder smiling up at me.

"Yeah, you haven't been the same for some time now, I liked the old Akefia back," Ryou replied and I looked down at them as Amane put her head on my chest and looked up at me.

"I'm sorry guys, it's just that I can't believe I'll be King soon," I told them. "I don't think I can handle this."

"You can though," Ryou told me and I looked at both of them.

"Thank you guys, but I don't know about this. I like being free and doing what I want to do," I told them honestly as I flexed my wings. They were grey-silver like my hair but they as some gold in them signifying who I was as the prince of this land.

"We know that but it'll be alright," Amane said hugging me. "Korana believes in you and so do the others."

Korana was my older sister by two years but she couldn't be Queen because Bakura and I were born. Bakura was my twin but he was born younger so I got the throne when I was old enough and Dad passed away.

Mom had passed away after Amane and Ryou were born. Dad dies a while ago and so I was supposed to take his place.

"I know you all do but it's just so much work," I said leaning back against the wall. There was another knock and my two other siblings walked into the room.

"You OK?" Korana asked me as they sat down as well. They sat on chairs near my bed.

With being twins Bakura and I looked very different. I had grey hair, tanned skin and lavender eyes while he had crimson, his hair was lighter than mine and he was a lot paler than I was.

Korana had black hair and tanned skin. Her eyes are brown. Amane had white-blue hair and brown eyes while Ryou had pale blue-white hair with bright green eyes.

All of our wings were the same colour as our hair but there were bits of gold going through all of them.

"Now," Bakura said looking at Amane and Ryou for a bit. "Aren't you two skipping lessons?"

"No," they said at the same time but rushed off and Bakura laughed a bit after the two of them. "Little brats."

"Bakura, be nice to your little siblings, they're trying to help," Korana berated him hitting him over the head.

"Fine, fine," Bakura said rubbing his head and grinning at the two of us as he leaned back in his chair.

"Why can't you do this, sister?" I asked Korana and she sighed at me. I knew we'd been over this but I didn't really care about that.

"I'm sorry Akefia, tradition states that the first born son is to inherit the throne and the first born daughter if there are no boys," she told me and I sighed.

"Yes, yes, I know," I said rolling my eyes as she sat on the bed next to me where Amane had been previously.

"I'll say I was born first if you'd like," Bakura said and we both laughed. I shook my head at him.

"They all know I came out first, you'd have as much luck with saying Ryou was born first," I told him.

"Yes, but I could pull off being King, Ryou couldn't handle the pressure," Bakura told me. That was true of course. Ryou and Amane were both very nice kids who didn't like to fight. Bakura and I were the opposite as we liked to fight and Korana would if she had too.

"You'll do fine, Akefia, we all believe in you," Korana said putting her arm around me and I nodded.

"Thanks sis," I said and the three of us sat in silence for a while until my door was opened quickly.

"Please forgive me, princes, princesses, but I need to warn you that we are under attack," a servant said and we all got to our feet.

"What?" Korana asked and the servant stepped back as her black wings unfolded sharply.

"We are under attack, princess," the servant said and she nodded at the girl. Then she looked at us.

"Let's find Ryou and Amane, we need to hide, you find somewhere to hide as well," she told the servant and Bakura and I rushed off to get our siblings as Korana went to tell the chief Guard to get everyone into the palace.

"Gods darn it, first Kisara now we're under attack," Bakura cursed and I nodded as I knew where to find the two kids.

Kisara had been one of our ambassadors to the other Kingdom, the Phoenix Kingdom. The last time she went over to the Kingdom she never came back. Some said she fell in love with one of the Phoenix.

Not that I would mind that at all but I wish she'd come back. She was a very nice friend and I hated to think something bad happened to her. She was strong, even if she was only a noble. I didn't love her, but she was one of the strongest dragons I knew.

"Bakura, Akefia," Ryou and Amane said as they ran up to us. They had the strange ability to talk at the same time.

"Hey you two, we need to hide," I told them as Korana came up to us and led the way to a place where we could hide.

"Come you four and keep quiet," Korana hissed at us and I grabbed Ryou as Bakura grabbed Amane and we started running again. We picked the younger kids up and put them on our backs as we followed our older sister.

We found a place and I put down the two kids down. Korana stood in front of us her body glowing. We knew she was covering us with her magic. I wasn't that good at magic. I was good at fighting and the same as Bakura.

Korana, Ryou and Amane were good at magic though. Though, Amane and Ryou were still learning.

I don't know how long we were there though I wanted to fight. I knew my sister would not hear of this however.

I met Bakura's eyes they were as dark as mine were. He saw his wings flex as he wanted to rush out there and fight. If anyone barged into the room I knew he'd pounce on them.

I glanced back at the other two. Both of them were shaking a tiny bit. I knew that the two were scared of what was going on. They were so soft.

Korana's face was impassive. She was concentrating on her magic power. I hoped her magic wouldn't run out of magic and expose us.

I don't know how long we were here for but Ryou and Amane had crawled over to help Korana have more power. I wondered how we'd know when the fight was over.

What could they want now? What could they possibly want from us. We had done nothing wrong. It was crazy.

Quite some time later Korana seemed to know that something was done because her magic stopped and she turned to us with a look on her face.

"Listen, I can't sense any life forces anymore," she said and the four of us looked at her.

"You mean that the enemy is gone?" Ryou asked and she looked at him before Bakura spoke up.

"Or that they're dead?" he asked and Ryou and Amane flinched and Korana pulled them into a hug.

"No... everyone is dead," she said and we all looked at her as her brown eyes held sorrow. "We're the last ones left."


	2. CHAPTER TWO: AFTERMATH

**Gates of Destiny**

**Chapter 2: Aftermath**

**(Akefia's POV)**

We all started for a while not moving or saying anything. It was Amane who said the first thing out of the five of us.

"How? Who could have done this?" she asked her voice sounded so small and young at that moment.

"Phoenix," Bakura said his fists clenching at his sides as Korana turned her head towards him.

"Pardon?" she asked our brother his crimson eyes locking with ours for a bit as he spoke.

"Face it, the only creatures powerful enough to kill all of the dragons would be the Phoenix,," he replied.

"But why would they do this?" Ryou asked.

"Because they're bastards," Bakura hissed as the two younger kids winced a bit at his tone.

"Bakura, language," Korana scolded him with a sigh as she stood up. "We'd better go."

"Where were we going?" Amane asked and Korana looked down at her with a sad look on her face.

"I don't know, all I do know is we can't stay here," Korana replied. Both Bakura and I knew she wasn't as strong as she wanted to be. Her magic was drained and she was tired.

I picked up Amane while Bakura picked up Ryou and Korana lead us out of our hiding place. We walked out of the palace and into the former kingdom. It was ruined.

They had burned down the houses and there was blood everywhere. Both Bakura and I kept the two younger ones close to us to shield them from the sight of the buildings.

Blood was everywhere, some of it our own species and some of it probably those who attacked us.

We were no pushovers, we would fight to protect our own and Bakura lived by that rule. The way he showed caring was to fight to the death for the person he was caring about.

I felt Amane fall asleep against my chest and I wished I could sleep as well but I knew I had to keep moving.

"First they kidnap Kisara and now this," Bakura seethed. It seemed he wasn't going to calm down for a bit.

"Well, we put up a good fight," Korana replied somberly as she looked down. She moved some rubble out of the way and looked saddened. The dragon who had been crushed by the falling wall was only about five years old.

"Yes, but what did they want?" I asked as I kicked a few rocks out of my way in irritation.

"I don't know but what I do know is that either they expect us to be dead or are going to look for us so we need to hide our wings so they don't know we're still alive," Korana told us as she folded her wings back.

All creatures had a human form but there was a few defining features that showed off what species they really were. Dragons had wings even in their human forms.

Bakura and I folded our wings as well making sure that neither of the kids had their wings exposed.

We soon reached the gates to our home and looked back. What was once a beautiful city was now a ruined mess. I heard Bakura hiss next to me as I knew he was plotting what he would do if he found who was responsible for the actions on our home.

"Come on you two, we need to get out of here," Korana told us and so we turned away from our home and started heading towards who knew where.

There were two kingdoms, the Phoenix and the Dragon kingdoms. Then there was some land in between that wasn't in any of the kingdoms. Most other creatures lived in this region because they were not welcome in the kingdoms.

No one knew how these creatures acted but I knew that we would have to make friends at some point. After all, we could hardly get to the Phoenix kingdom and we couldn't stay at our home.

Bakura was watching wearily afraid that something would jump out at us at any moment. It didn't help that it was late at night either. Most creatures would be out at night. Besides, there was the added danger of Vampires.

Vampires were alright but they had that thirst for blood that could get annoying. The other issue was that you always knew they were lurking somewhere because the night was the only time they could get out and feed as they wished.

I would hate to be a vampire. I mean... being stuck with only being able to go out in the night because you can't go out in the sun or you'd burn. I shudder at the thought of not being free enough to move around when and where you wished.

I wondered what it would be like to drink blood as well. I never really knew what blood tasted like in any way because I hadn't bitten anyone yet and I hadn't been hurt enough to taste blood in my mouth.

Bakura had both experiences, then again, he had dealt with anyone who tried to bully Ryou and Amane. You'd think that people wouldn't bully the youngest kids of the royal family but that only encouraged the kids to do it more.

The main issue was that Ryou was too girly for his own good. I didn't get that point. Sure my brother had long hair but I was the only one who kept it mildly short and it was to the base of my neck. He may also not be as muscular as Bakura or I but he didn't train his body as well as the two of us. He trained in magic more.

I suppose some kids felt that magic was a girl's job and that boys should be fighting with their body.

Then again, those boys had never seen Korana mad. She may be a decent Mage but she was deadly without it as well. She could kick Bakura's ass in ten minutes if she really wanted too.

Some people had told me that Bakura should have been king instead of me though I wondered about that. Bakura may have been a strong fighter but I would think he would be a better chief of the army.

After all, he made better battle decisions and was quite cunning when he needed to be. Not that I wasn't cunning or anything.

I just couldn't see my twin being the King. Sure, he joked about it a lot to make me feel better but he wouldn't do it the right way and even he knew that.

Korana, I could see her as a very good Queen to be honest but she wasn't allowed to be the Queen because Bakura, Ryou and I had to be born boys.

Ryou and Amane wouldn't have been able to handle the stress of being King or Queen. They'd let pompous nobles push them around and would worry about doing the best thing for everyone.

They'd never declare war even when it was truly vital hoping that there was a better way to do it.

I guess, given the circumstances I would have been the best choice but still. everyone was dead so it didn't matter anymore. We may be the last dragons alive on the earth, though maybe Kisara was still alive.

I don't know how long we'd been walking for to be honest with you and I didn't quite care. My legs may have been sore but if it meant being safe I would endure it. I knew my sister and brother were doing the same.

Suddenly Korana stopped in front of us and we stopped as well. We looked at each other for a little bit.

"What's up, sis?" Bakura asked her in a low voice as we stood still waiting for her response.

"There are two presences ahead of us, I'm not sure who they are or what they are but I'd be careful," Korana warned us.

"Do they know we're here?" I asked her and she shrugged her shoulders at me.

"I don't know, but it's better to be safe about these things, especially with those two," she said meaning Amane and Ryou.

"Well, we'll find out at some point," Bakura said his eyes scanning our surroundings. All three of us were tense waiting for something to happen.


	3. CHAPTER THREE: THE PACK

**Gates of Destiny**

**Chapter 3: The Pack**

**(Rakknar's POV)**

It was late at night when I stepped out of the shadows and leaned against a tree. There was a flash of something pale and I turned my head with a bit of a smirk as I watched Night.

She was one of my closest friends. I had taken care of her from a young age and I watched over her a lot.

I watched her leap onto some creature and started to drain it's blood. She was a vampire and it showed. The only issue was that as a vampire she couldn't go out in the day and she had a thirst for blood. The thirst for blood wasn't an issue but I had to make sure that she didn't drink any blood from anyone who she wasn't supposed to.

Her wings folded back as she stood up a bit her hackles rose and I sniffed the air as I scented the wind. Night's head was turned towards where the scent of blood.

"Night, no," I said and she turned to look at me. Blood dripped from her fangs and her lower lip and she licked the blood off her fangs and her chin.

"What? What's wrong now, Rakknar?" Night asked as she walked over to me as I stood up straight.

"Those aren't ones you should drink," I told her as I started to walk forwards and she followed me.

"Why not?" Night asked following me her wings still folded neatly at her back. Mine were also folded down so they were not visible.

"Because, they're dragons," I told her and her eyes widened a bit at my comments.

"What would dragons be doing out here?" she asked me. She seemed a bit weary which made sense to me. After all, very few from the two kingdoms came into these parts and it was usually dangerous when they did.

"I don't know, there are five of them and I sense lose and fatigue from them," I told her as I continued to walk. She walked a bit behind me as I stepped through the dense dark forest.

"I wonder about that, I wonder if Cleo would know something about something like that," Night said and I nodded. If there had been death Cleo would know. It was like her calling as a Harpy. They tended to get drawn to death.

"Yes, she may, however for now we shall go see what they would like," I told her as we walked up to them.

I noticed them all. There were two girls and three boys. The oldest girl was tanned with black hair and brown eyes. She seemed very tired.

Two of the boys were standing there holding the two youngest kids. One was tanned and the other pale. One had red eyes and the other lavender. The lavender eyed boy had a scar down his face.

It was hard to really see the other two seeing as they were being held securely to the boys' chest. Though it seemed they were asleep.

There was a shuffle in the leaves and the two boys looked around the red eyed boy stiffened. His red eyes narrowed as he looked around. It seemed that he was being very careful about what was going on.

I looked over at Night who looked back at me. Obviously, as the oldest, I was supposed to go out first and talk to them. It wasn't shocking really that she was waiting for me.

I stepped forwards out of the forest and into the light of the moon and stars. Night stood next to me as we faced the group.

"You look lost," I told them as the red-eyed boy tensed his crimson eyes narrowing at me as if trying to see if I'm was a threat or not. "Don't worry, we mean you no harm."

"Yeah...," the pale teen said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes at me. "That's what anyone would say."

"Hey," Night said obviously annoyed at how he was acting. I put my hand in front of her and she was silent again but gave me a look.

"Enough, Midnight," I said using her full name and she nodded knowing I was serious since very few people even knew her full name and those who did only did it on rare occasions.

"Alright, Rakknar," she said as she watched me and the other five as if to see what would happen next.

"I am not here to hurt you, if I was, I would have done it already," I said unfurling my long black bird-wings.

"What are you?" the other older boy asked me curiously as he looked at my wings which were almost invisible against the dark night.

"I am a Manticore, Night here is a Vampire and you five are dragons, aren't you?" I asked after telling them.

"Yes, how did you know?" the older girl asked me and I shrugged folding my wings against my back again.

"You're scent," I replied. "I haven't met many Dragons in my life but they all seem to have a very distinct smell, all creatures have their own smell.

"Oh," the tanned boy said and he looked at us for a bit as if wondering what they should do next.

"I still don't trust them," the pale boy said looking at us suspicion clear in his scarlet eyes.

"What do you want here?" Korana asked giving the other teen a bit of a look as she asked me her question.

"I want to offer you somewhere to at least rest up," I told her simply. "I don't know why you're here but I can tell you're really tired. My name is Rakknar."

"My name is Korana and these are my brothers Akefia, Bakura and Ryou and my sister Amane," the oldest girl said.

"Kora," Akefia said looking at the older girl who looked at him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Well, we have nowhere else to go and I'm not going to be able to stay awake much longer, and you two have your hands full," she said nodding to the sleeping youngsters.

"So you're just about to trust complete strangers?" Bakura asked still unsure of us it seemed. He was very wary which was a good thing to be honest. It meant he wasn't going to get tricked that easily. Not that I was trying to trick them or anything.

"I know, though if they wanted to hurt us they would have been able to do it already," Korana said sensibly.

"You make a valid point," Akefia said shifting his sibling in his arms as he looked at us.

"Come then if you want too," I said turning around and I started to lead them back the way Night and I had come.

I could hear them following us as we walked back to where we lived. There were a few buildings that made up our home and I walked into one of them all of the others following.

"We have a bunch of guest bedrooms, take your pick," I said with a bit of a smile. "I'm sure you want to sleep first, I'll send someone over to meet you later to show you around."

"Thank you," Korana said to me and I nodded at her as the two boys went off. They put the younger kids in one room and went to get their own rooms.

"You're welcome," I said as she found her own room and I turned to Night who was looking at me with a fanged smile.

"Do you ever ask yourself if you're being too nice?" she asked me as I started to walk out the door and she followed.

"No," I replied simply as I continued walking. I walked into another room and a teen looked up at me. Her hair was long and lose. It was while and dark red with golden streaks in it. Her eyes were striking deep royal blue. She was beautiful and my mate.

"Hey Rakknar, you're back early," she said glancing at Night and then back at me.

"I know, Aka, that's because Night and I ran into a few people," I told her. She rose a brow at this.

"Oh? And who would that be?" she asked smirking a bit at her nickname. Her full name was Akane which fit her quite well.

"They're Dragon," I said. "Five of them. They're siblings and they seemed out of it. They're resting right now but I think it'd be best if we get the Pack together and talk about this."

"Alright, I'll go get everyone, coming Night?" she asked and the girl nodded. I started walking to a room we generally used as a meeting room.

The Pack as we called it was like a group I'd set up. As the oldest of all of us I was the leader and the guardian. We were all misfits. Akane was a Hippogriff who's home life wasn't great. Night was of course a Vampire, they weren't generally liked for their blood thirst. Though she had two best friends who were also part of the Pack who were twin Griffins.

"Rakknar," I heard a whine from behind me to see two tanned blonds walking through the door They had lavender eyes though one's hair was sticking out in all directions. "I was having a nap."

"Oh get over it," I replied with a bit of a smirk. Marik and Malik were usually a bit like that. Though when the need arose they were serious and could be quite cunning when asked to be.

"Why did you have to get us all together for, you'd think this was an emergency," Katon said as she walked in.

It didn't take us too long to all get gathered together. Though the Griffin twins, Terra and Temara were only eleven they were part of the original pack. There were new people now but they weren't the same.

There were fourteen of us. Myself of course, Night, Terra, Temara and Akane as I already stated. Cleo, Marik and Malik were also part of it. Then there was Ash, my sister who was also a Manticore as well. Katon was a Thunderbird and Kain was a Roc. Spirit was an Alicorn. The last two members were Mayve, a Sphinx and Vensisillie or Vennie was a gargoyle.

"What's this about?" Ash asked me and I looked at everyone who was gathered in the room.

"We have some very unusual guests," I told them all and they all listened. Some were sitting on chairs, some were on sitting on the floor. A few were on the tables and a few leaning against the wall.

"Interesting how?" Vennie wanted to know her eye-brow raised a bit as she sat in a chair.

"Well, there five dragon siblings," I told them and there were a few whispers around the room.

"Are you sure they're Dragons?" Cleo said and I looked at her. Her wings were tattered as most Harpies were.

"Why wouldn't I be? They smell of Dragon," I said and she looked down for a bit and looked back up at me.

"Well, here's the thing... if they are dragons they may be the last of their kind," Cleo told us and there was a bit of silence for a bit as we all took this in.

"That's horrible," Terra said and Temara nodded giving her sister a hug as she did so.

"Either way I'm going to let them stay here for as long as they want too, whether or not they join the Pack is up to them," I told the group. "Though I'm going to need someone to go and make sure they know where to go when they wake up."

"I'll do it," Marik and Malik said in unison and then they looked at each other. They were brothers. No one was sure if they were actually blood brothers or not, they didn't even know that information. Though for all of it they acted like it.

"Careful you two, if the Dragon Kingdom was destroyed we all know that it was the Phoenix Kingdom, they may not take to kindly to you," Akane stated.

"We will," Malik said. They were from the Phoenix Kingdom but everyone of us knew that they weren't loyal to their own home anymore.


	4. CHAPTER FOUR: THE PHOENIX TWINS

**Gates of Destiny**

**Chapter 4: The Phoenix Twins**

**(Ryou's POV)**

I whimpered as I looked around. There was blood everywhere. Our people were dying left and right and I stopped looking out of fear. I huddled with my little sister as we looked at our siblings. There was a crash and the door flew open.

One of our guards backed into the room as he fought at least ten people from the Phoenix kingdom. One of them stepped forwards, their wings all extended and on fire. One of them stepped forwards and placed a hand on our guard's chest.

He let out a pained cry as his body burned to ashes. The Phoenix men laughed and then looked to the others in the room, which was us.

Korana, Akefia and Bakura stood up pulling out weapons and extending their wings. They fought he guards but they weren't strong enough and soon they were being held by two of men held each one of them.

Then the last four walked up to my twin and I. We looked at each other, we didn't fight like our older siblings. We were pulled up by two for each of us and we were held between them.

We were all led out of our palace and brought in front of a person who looked like he was a leader of the group. They forced us to kneel in front of him as he looked down at us and smirked.

He then smirked as he snapped his fingers and the ground started to get really hot and I let out a scream and I sat upright in bed looking around sweat pouring down my body.

I looked over at my twin who was also sitting up in the bed she had. We looked at each other. I thought my eyes were probably as wide as hers were as we stared at each other.

"Bad dream?" she asked me and I nodded at her as I got out of my bed and so did she. "Me too."

"Let's go see the others," I suggested and she nodded so the two of us started to go out of the door. I was so close to her that I could almost read her mind at times.

We walked out of the room and then went to the room the boys were supposed to be in but they were not there so we went to where our older sister was.

We opened the door and walked into the room. Korana was still sleeping in a bed and Bakura and Akefia were sitting in the room. The two of them looked over as the door opened.

"What's wrong, kids?" Bakura asked us as we walked into the room and over to the two older boys.

"We had nightmares," Amane said and the two boys gently took us in their arms and led us to the beds that were spare in the room.

"It's OK, we're here for you," Akefia said rubbing my back as Bakura rubbed Amane's back.

"I'm scared, what's going to happen to us?" I asked looking up at Bakura my eyes misty with tears.

"We can't go home, can we?" Amane asked right after me to Akefia and the two boys traded looks.

"We can't but we'll be alright," Akefia told us and we leant against them. We didn't go back to sleep but we just lay there for a little while.

Korana woke up a little bit afterwards as she looked at the four of us. "Hi you four."

"Hi Korana, the kids had a nightmare," Akefia said as they picked us up and carried us to the bed of our sister who sat up as we were placed down onto the bed with her.

"Are you two alright?" Korana asked as we crawled up to them and then she wrapped her arms around the two of us.

"We'll be fine," we both said at the same time as we rested our heads on her stomach as the boys sat on the edge of the bed.

"I know you will, it was only a bad dream," Korana said to the two of us but then there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, do you want to be shown around?" a voice asked from the other side of the door and they all sat up. Korana nodded so we got up and walked to the door.

"Sure," Korana said and she opened the door to show to blond boys. Their eyes were lavender and their skin was tanned.

"Hi, I'm Marik and this is Malik," the boy with the less messy hair said extending his hand.

"I'm Korana, these are my little brothers Akefia, Bakura and Ryou and our little sister Amane," she said shaking Marik's hand then Malik's and the rest of us did the same.

"Well, let's go around shall we?" Malik asked and so we followed the two blonds around the hide-out that we were in.

"I'm hungry," I mumbled a bit and Amane agreed with me on that one and the two blonds. Who I couldn't decide if they were twins or not, turned to look at the two of us.

"Alright, we'll show you to the kitchen then," Marik offered and we started off again until we got to the kitchen.

"Have whatever you want, make yourselves at home," Malik said leaning against a wall.

(Narrator's POV)

Marik watched the five as they got some food to eat and he yawned stretching his arms, legs and wings. He caught Malik's eyes and quickly retracted the bright feathered appendages.

Unluckily Bakura had seen the flash of golden-red feathers and turned to face the two boys his eyes dark.

"You! You're from the Phoenix Kingdom," he snarled at Marik who stood up again his own eyes a bit dark.

"It's not like that," Marik defended himself. "Malik and I were from that place but we left a while ago."

"Oh yeah?" Bakura asked disbelievingly and Marik growled frustrated at the irate blond.

"Bakura," Malik started and the other teen turned his dark gaze to him instead. "We would never do anything like what happened to you, the king was overthrown and we fled."

"I don't believe you," he snarled and rushed Marik pinning him to a wall his hands around his neck. Marik grasped Bakura's arms trying to pry them off his neck but not succeeding at doing that. Bakura smirked sadistically at watching the blond struggle in his grasp.

Malik moved forwards ready to stop Bakura but he was stopped in his tracks by two blurs moving past him. When he looked closer he noticed it was the youngest two siblings.

"Bakura stop," Ryou cried out holding onto one of Bakura's arms with his two hands.

"This isn't going to solve anything, just listen to them," Amane said holding onto the other arm.

There was a moment of pause where no one in the room moved. Akefia, Korana and Malik were just watching as Ryou and Amane seemed to plead with their brother through their eyes to let the teen go while Marik tried to breathe in air.

He let go of the tanned boy's neck who gasped for air as he collapsed against the wall. "Fine."

"Hey, you guys done, Rakknar wanted to see you, which includes the five you," a girl said as she walked in.

"Right, Akane," the Ishtar boys said in unison giving each other looks.

"Thinks she knows?" Marik asked the other Phoenix teen.

"What, that you messed up big time?" Malik asked with a smile on his face and Marik nodded. "Oh I think she knows."

"How the hell would she know?" Marik asked a bit panicked at the idea it seemed.

"She's Akane, that's how," Malik replied with a laugh.

"Is she bad?" Ryou asked looking up at the boys.

"Nah, she's alright if you're on her good side, it's just not a good idea to get her annoyed," Malik told the boy simply.

"Let's go them," Marik said so he led the way to the meeting room where the rest of the Pack was waiting for them.


	5. CHAPTER 5:STORY OF THE PHOENIX KINGDOM

**Gates of Destiny**

**CHAPTER 5: THE STORY OF THE PHOENIX KINGDOM**

**NARATOR'S POV**

The seven of them walked out of the kitchen and towards another. They entered seeing the room rather crowded with people.

"Hey," Rakknar said looking at the five Dragons. "Let me introduce you to the others. This is my sister Ash, she's also a Manticore. This is Akane my mate, she's a Hippogriff. Terra and Temara over there are both Griffins. That's Spirit, he's an Alicorn, and this is Cleo she's our Harpy. That's Katon, she's a Thunderbird and Kain is a Roc. Vensisillie is a Gargoyle and Mayve is a Sphinx. You've already met Night, myself, Marik and Malik," Rakknar said as Marik and Malik took places in the room.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Korana and these are my younger siblings, Akefia, Bakura, Ryou and Amane," Korana introduced her siblings as they all said hello to each other.

"Welcome to the hideout of the Pack," Akane said with a smile at the five. "Sit if you'd like."

"Marik, Malik, want to start? I think they'll need your explanation first," Rakknar said and the two Ishtars nodded.

"You five know that we're Phoenix. Well, that part is true but we're not loyal to the Kingdom as it is right now," Marik started. "Everything was alright for a long time and our King would never have dreamed of harming you. We were personal guards to the three princes. We were with the boys when all went wrong. Our King was overthrown. He and the Queen were murdered and the three princes were enslaved by the new King."

"We were given the choice to join the new king or die," Malik replied after Marik stopped for a bit. "Marik and I fled the country and we came here and we met Rakknar and the rest of the Pack."

"I worry about Yugi though, he's only ten, I hate to think what they're doing to him, Yami and Atem are fifteen so a year younger than us," Marik said almost absently.

"He'll be alright, we'll sort something out, first off, we need to get them and second all, we need to make them pay for doing this. They will pay for messing up with our reputation!"

"Mal, calm down," Katon said walking over to him as his wings had caught fire from anger.

"Sorry, it just makes me angry," Malik told them and they all nodded in understanding.

"I know, Malik, but getting angry won't solve anything," Katon said as she glanced at the other boys.

"That's sad," the two youngest Dragons stated as they looked down at the ground thinking about this.

"The rest of us have been here for a while, we group together to survive," Rakknar said.

They talked for a while more so that they all got to know each other. Though they all needed rest so they decided to split up and go to their rooms.

MARIK'S POV

I walked out of the room a bit annoyed still. I felt someone walking up to me so I turned to see the instrument of my ire; Bakura. I didn't hate him but he was too angry at me.

"Marik," he said to me and I nodded at him. His crimson eyes seemed serious and I wondered what he wanted with me now.

"What is it?" I asked him a bit annoyed at him already. I knew the two of us wouldn't be friends that easily clearly.

"Listen to me, I believe what you said about your home but listen to me now," Bakura said taking a step towards me. "If I find even a scratch on one of my little siblings from you I swear right now, I will not hold back."

"I get it, I won't hurt them," I told him my eyes narrowing a bit. I had in some ways little siblings. Yes, Malik was older than me but I had felt like an older brother to the three princes.

Sure, Yami and Atem were only a year younger than us but Yugi was six years younger and I felt really responsible for him.

"Good," Bakura said as he walked off and I looked after him. He was strange. Stubborn and strong minded, his way of showing love was to destroy any threat that came in his way.

"What are you thinking about?" Malik asked me as he walked up to me. I still didn't know if he was my twin or not but I was pretty sure he was my identical twin.

"Bakura," I replied and he looked at me for a bit as we started walking back to our room.

"What about him?" Malik asked as I felt my neck. I knew there was going to be some bruises from it.

"He's a stubborn, arrogant, brat who won't listen to anyone when they try to explain themselves," I told him and he chuckled at me as he knew what was coming next. "Yet, he's got his heart in the right place really."

"Yeah, I can see that, he tried to strangle you," Malik replied as we continued to walk. We both turned as we sensed two people coming up to us. We turned around to see that it was Bakura's siblings, Amane and Ryou.

"Yes, what do you two want?" I asked the two nicely. Their shy kindness reminded me of Yugi and a tiny lump caught in my throat for a bit.

"Sorry about Bakura," Ryou told me looking up at me his bright eyes shining and I knelt down to be at their level.

"It's alright, I can understand, I think I'd probably do the same if our situations were switched," I told the two putting one of my hands on each of their shoulders with a smile on my face.

"He shouldn't act that way, but he's just very over-protective over us," Amane said.

"There's something else too," I jumped and turned to see Akefia, Bakura's other brother standing there. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, Marik."

"Don't worry about that," I said with a bit of a smile. "I would tend to sense people come behind me."

"That's pretty good ability when it works," he said and I laughed knowing he was teasing me.

"Are you sure you're related to Bakura, the rest of you seem pretty normal and nice," I replied to him.

"Bakura really is over-protective. The thing is... a little while ago one of our friends went missing," Akefia told me and my eyes widened a bit. "Amane, Ryou, you two should go to bed."

"Come on you two," Koran said taking the two boy the hand not leaving room for any argument in the matter.

"What do you mean by what you said?" Malik asked and Akefia looked at his lavender eyes serious.

"Sorry, I just didn't want to say it in front of the kids," Akefia replied. "We had a friend named Kisara, she was one of our ambassadors to the Kingdom and she was one of Bakura's good friends. In fact, we think he had a crush on her at some point. One time, she went to the Kingdom and she never came back to our home," Akefia told us.

"Oh, that would make him angrier wouldn't it?" I asked him sarcastically and Akefia nodded at me. We started to walk to our rooms as we kept on talking to each other.

"Yes, I'm sorry about the way he is. It also doesn't help that Korana, Bakura, Ryou, Amane and I are part of the royal family," Akefia told us and I blinked at him.

"You are?" I asked and even Malik looked surprised and Akefia nodded at the two of us.

"Yeah, I was the crown prince. Korana could have been a good queen but she wasn't allowed. Bakura was born after me so he can't be king," he told us.

"Oh, well, that is a bit annoying," I said and Akefia nodded at the two of us as we started to split up to head to our rooms.

"Well, talk to you later, dragon prince," Malik teased Akefia who laughed and turned to Malik.

"Whatever you say," he said with a wave and I smirked at the two of them as I turned to my brother to lead.

"Night, Akefia," I called to him as I walked side-by-side with my brother. I would try to get along with Bakura and get on his good side.

"Good night, Marik, Malik," he called back as we walked. I looked at Malik who looked back at me. Things were going to get interesting from here on out.


	6. CHAPTER SIX: MALIK'S TALE

**Gates of Destiny**

**CHAPTER 6: MALIK'S TALE**

**AMANE'S POV**

Ryou and I walked through the hideout looking around. We were soon stopped by a voice.

"Hey, you two, what are you up too?" It was Malik and we looked up at the teen. Even if Bakura didn't like him much Ryou and I did. He was nice to us even if sometimes fought with Bakura.

"We were looking for Rakknar," I told him and he nodded as he started walking off in the direction we were going.

"Come on then," he said and we walked after him. Ryou and I had stuck together for a long time. Ever since we were born apparently. I would hate to be split up from him. Most of the other kids didn't really like us much but we loved each other. Most kids made fun of Ryou for having long hair and looking a bit girly, I thought it was nice that he didn't mind looking like that.

"Thank you, Malik," Ryou said as we walked a bit behind him and he looked down at my twin.

"It's alright," Malik said and his eyes went a bit distant. Marik said it was because Malik was thinking about Yugi. I wanted to meet this person. he was our age and sounded very nice. Marik said he was a lot like the two of us and so we reminded Malik of him and so he would do all it took to protect us. It was strange like that.

"Malik?" I asked as we walked.

"Hmm?" he acknowledge.

"I was just wondering... what was it like... you know... at your home?" I asked and he started laughing a bit. "What?"

"Sorry, just remembering those days. I guess Marik didn't say anything," he said and we shook our heads at him.

"No, he didn't say anything," we said and he blinked as we'd spoken in unison again. It happened at times.

"You get used to it, we do that a lot," Ryou told him and he nodded snapping out of that and smiling a bit.

"Well, alright, though I'm not shocked Marik didn't say much," Malik said closing his eyes for a second to think. "Our lives weren't the greatest at first. We weren't always the personal guards to the three princes."

"You weren't, what were you then?" I asked and he turned and looked at the two of us.

"It's a bit complicated," Malik replied. "I... I wasn't normal... back when Marik and I were kids... I was insane. Marik's family wasn't great and I don't know where I came in to the whole mess, neither of us know if Marik and I are actually twins or not, he doesn't even know. All I know is one day... one day I got so angry... and... the next thing I knew... I'm not sure you should hear this really."

"Come on, we'll be OK, but you don't have to tell us if you don't want too," Ryou said and I nodded. Malik kneeled down and gently hugged the two of us.

"OK, one night I just snapped. The next thing I could remember, Marik's father was dead. His sister wasn't around since she had become a healer and worked in the palace but I killed our father. I know I did... it was scary... and the way Marik looked at me. I promised never to hurt anyone again, I was so scared of what I was," he said.

"How did you know?" I asked him into his chest. I held one of Ryou's hands in my own.

"I just do. Marik and I... we ran, ran away from the place knowing we would be in trouble. We stuck together though Marik and I barely spoke. We used to be so close but then, after that day, he just started to act a bit different. I thought he was scared of me and I was scared of myself. I kept to myself, enjoying the solitude," he told us.

"Things changed though, didn't they? I mean, you and Marik are close again, aren't you?" Ryou asked and he nodded.

"Yes, we really are," Malik said with a laugh. "We actually met Rakknar before we had to flee, he told us that he would help us if ever we needed somewhere."

"That was nice of him," I said.

"Yeah, he is like that, unless you get him angry and then he's very, very scary," Malik replied. "We thanked him but we still stayed for some reason. I think it was because Marik didn't want to leave his sister behind. So we stayed. Then it happened."

"What happened?" I wanted to know as he had paused in his story for a bit to stand up again.

"The thing that would change our lives forever," Malik replied. "Someone, we never found out who, had someone kidnap Yugi. We didn't know the princes back then and to be honest we hadn't even known about the kidnapping until... well. We were in a tavern when we heard two guys, who were really drunk, talking about how amazing they were and things like that because they had managed to kidnap the prince and how pleased their employer was going to be. For some reason this angered Marik a lot."

"What did you do?" Ryou wanted to know. It was strange, this story had us hooked. I barely remembered that I wanted to find Rakknar.

"Marik was about to storm up to them and demand to know what was going on but we decided that that would be a stupid idea. Well, I told him so. Marik agreed so we decided to sneak out and try to rescue the kid. Sadly the people heard us and tried to stop us. They didn't know two things, one, we'd managed to get the blindfold off the boy and that he was awake. If they had I think they would have thought better of their little plan. When they knew the guards were coming they tried to act like we had done it."

"Did they believe the men?" I asked him. He didn't seemed bothered that we were interrupting his story.

"Well, yes, by all accounts it had seemed so... but then... well, then Yugi spoke up, saying that we were trying to save him, by this time Yugi's father himself had already gotten there," he said a bit of a smile on his face. "One of the men then panicked. In the confusion he lunged at Yugi." He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a long gash on his arm. "I don't know what compelled me, perhaps the same thing that compelled me when Marik and I were younger. I blocked it. He gave him this scar to prove it..."

"Did you kill him?" Ryou asked with a small shudder.

"No, Marik and Yugi stopped me. Marik told me it wasn't worth it and something in Yugi's face just made me stop. The guards took the men and they were imprisoned for kidnapping and trying to kill the prince. As for Marik and I, well, it was decided that we would be the personal guards to the princes," Malik finished. "Though I haven't be as close to Yami and Atem than Yugi."

"Wow," we said together and he nodded with a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling.

"It's a lot like you and Bakura, Yugi can calm me down when I get angry, he reminds me that I don't need to hurt anyone," Malik told us.

"I want to meet him one day," I said absently as I looked at Ryou again and he agreed with me.

"I hope you will be able too," he told us. "I hope the kid is alright, I hate to think what they're doing to him."

"It'll be OK," Ryou said and he looked down at us and a smile curved up his lips.

"Thanks you two," he said and we nodded at him.

"You're welcome," we replied in unison.

"So, you wanted to see Rakknar, huh?" he asked and we laughed a bit as we'd not thought of that.

"Yeah, that was what we wanted to do," Ryou said as we walked side-by-side, with Malik in the middle and somehow I felt safe. I tended only to feel that way with my siblings.


	7. CHAPTER SEVEN: THE LIBRARY

**Gates of Destiny**

**CHAPTER 7:** THE LIBRARY

(Ryou's POV)

Malik lead us to where Rakknar was. Terra, Temara, Akane and Ash were there. "Hey kids," Rakknar said to us.

"Hi Rakknar," we said as we looked at the black haired teen.

"What brings you two here then?" Rakknar asked as he looked us up and down as if knowing that it was him we were going to see.

"We were wondering if you had a library," I said and Rakknar nodded and looked at the two Griffins.

"Terra, Temara, want to show them were it is?" he asked and they nodded as they stood up. They were only a year older than Amane and I.

"Come on you two," Temara said and I felt my cheeks warm a bit. I wasn't that old but even I knew when a girl was pretty. Then again, it wasn't proper for a dragon to mate with a creature other than dragons, and especially not one of the lesser species.

"What are you going to do in the library?" Terra asked us as we walked down a few hallways.

"Look at things, we were learning magic back in our kingdom," Amane told the older girl.

"Well, we know some magic, it's not extensive but still, it's enough to pass," Temara stated.

"We learned a lot, but Korana is a lot better than we are since she's had more time, Akefia and Bakura aren't as good because they didn't focus on magic as much. Kora focused on both magic and fighting," I said.

"It was Korana's magic that hid us when we were attacked," Amane stated a small smile crossing her lips as she was happy about think of her sister.

"That's good," Terra said with a smile on her face. "Temara and I are twins like you two and your brothers. We grew up together when we met Night. We became good friends and then Rakknar found us. Akane was actually the first member of his pack along with him and Ash since she is his sister. We were the three next ones to join."

"That's nice," I said and the two girls grinned at the thought of what had happened.

"Yeah, it is, Rakknar is nice like that, he takes in others when they have no home to go to or their home is somewhere they don't want to or can't return too. Like Marik and Malik or even Akane. I shouldn't talk about her family but it's not a surprise she didn't want to go back," Temara said.

"The others came at random intervals and sometimes together. It's pretty amazing how the group has grown. We were only young when we were taken in as we were formerly the youngest members of the pack but it's quite amazing to see who had joined the group," Terra said.

"What did Rakknar make it for?" Amane wanted to know as we continued walking.

"He said he wanted to make a home where we could live and not be afraid of what lay outside and things like that, though there was always something more it seemed. Rakknar is mysterious in that way," Temara stated.

"Here we are," Terra told us as we walked into a large room. There were shelves upon shelves lined with books. Some looked really old and some newer. We looked from book to book with awe.

"Where to start?" Amane asked me and I shrugged my shoulders at her as I looked at it.

"I'm afraid it's not very organized, we tried to do it but with the two of us it's not very easy, and some of it isn't really that easy to read. Malik and Marik have helped us a bit with it but even they can only do so much and they tend not to like it that much. They'd rather spar with some of the others than sort books with us," Terra said.

"We could help," I offered and Amane nodded and so the twin girls smiled at us.

"Alright, first things first, we need to get all the books down, the we need to figure out how we want to order them," Temara said taking charge. She was older than Terra by a few minutes.

"Well, what kinds of books are here?" I asked as we started to pull all the books off the shelves.

"All sorts, history books, spell books, some books that we think are supposed to be like fictional books," Terra told us.

"Well, I think we should split those up then, put them in different sections for one thing. So for now we need to make three big piles, we could put fiction on the left side, spell books on the right and History in the middle for now," Amane suggested.

"that sounds good for now," Temara said and she levitated, yes levitated, a book. I looked at her and she smiled at me. "It's easy, Ryou, I could teach you."

"That's be fun," I said with a smile as I jumped up spreading my wings to grab a book from a high shelf.

"Hmm... this one is in a different language," Amane commented and one of the girls looked over.

"Yeah, Malik and Marik were able to figure them out, turns out they learned a lot of ancient text when they were younger," Terra said.

"They never mentioned that," I said and they shook their heads at us as they shared a glance.

"They wouldn't have, it wasn't a fun time in their lives," Temara said. "Anyway, that one is a sell book."

"Maybe we should put books that are in ancient text by themselves so that they can be translated first," I suggested.

"Good idea, here, we can put them in the other room and get the boys to do it when they have time," Terra offered.

It took us quite a long time but we finally had the books in piles, three in the main room and one to the room off the side. We looked at all the stacks we had made. "We need to organize all these now," I said.

"It may just be simpler to do them alphabetically," Terra suggested and it seemed she wasn't quite done.

"By the author's last name," Temara finished her younger sisters statement and we all started laughing.

So we started to do that, of course, it gave Amane and I time to look at the various different titles though we had to leave the stacks that were in the other language as we couldn't read the authors.

"Well, find anything you want to look at?" Terra asked us after we were finally done sorting the books.

"Yeah, I think I found what we were looking for," I said as I looked at the book I was holding in my hands. Amane came over and read the title over my shoulder.

"Well, we'll see you two later then, we'll tell the two that they need to come and translate those books, they're not going to be too happy to do it but oh well," Temara said.

"See you later," Amane said as I started to flip through the book trying to find something that I felt should be there. "How do we know this exists?"

"We don't, I'm just hoping," I replied as I flipped through the pages of the book and finally stopped. "Here!"

"You found it?" she asked taking the seat right next to me as the library also had tables and chairs in it. She read the book as I pushed it a bit so she could see it better.

"Hey you two, find anything interesting?" we almost jumped to hear Marik's voice and we turned to the younger of the two.

"Yes actually," I replied with a smile at him as he leaned on the table as Malik stood a bit off.

"Well, we've got to get to translating these things, Rakknar says it's a good idea and he's gland you got this place organized," Malik stated.

"He's welcome, it was kind of fun," Amane said with a smile as she pushed her white hair out of her face.

"There is one thing before you go," I said as I looked down at the page and then back at the two.

"What is it?" Marik asked as the closest one to us.

"Can we have one of your feathers?" I asked and he looked at me a bit puzzled.

"What do you want a feather for?" Marik asked me and I looked back at the page and then turned it so he could read it.

"Magic," I replied simply. "This is something Amane and I want to do."

"I see," Marik said and let his wings fold out of his back. He put his hand back and pulled one of his feathers out and handed it to me. "Careful, it may be a bit hot."

"Thank you Marik," I said as I took the feather. It was hot but not unbearably so, it was more like it was just a nice warmth.

"You're welcome," he said as she stood up and folded his wings back against his back.

"What was that for?" Malik asked Marik as they started walking to the other room to start figuring out what all the books said. There weren't that many thankfully.

"I think you'll find out soon enough," Marik replied with a bit of a laugh and we smiled at each other. It would be nice to keep this a secret for as long as we could, well, until we wanted to show what we had done. That way, if it didn't work no one would be upset.


	8. CHAPTER EIGHT: COMBINED MAGIC

**Gates of Destiny**

**CHAPTER 8: COMBINED MAGIC**

NARARATOR'S POV

"Ama, can you get some of the other things we need," Ryou asked his twin who looked at the book and then nodded. She jumped out her chair and almost ran out of the room to get what they needed.

Meanwhile Ryou glanced at the book again. He gently touched the feather that Marik had given them. It was still warm as if it was still somehow heated. He smiled a bit, Phoenix magic was so very different than their own. It was sad that they had never known about this until now.

"Got it, though I had to tell Rakknar what we were up too," Amane said jumping on the chair next to her brother and he smiled.

"That's alright, it's not like we're going to keep it secret for much longer," Ryou said. Amane put what she had gotten on the table. Ryou picked up the feather and the strands of hair.

"Let me see the book for a second," she said pulling it over as he carefully wound the hair around the feather a bit making sure not to snap the strands or break the feather.

"I think we're almost done, this is a simple one," He told her as he put the feather back down on the table.

"Very close to it," she replied. She breathed in and then out again. All dragons had a different coloured fire, Amane's was a light lavender. She controlled her fire to surround the feather. It hovered a bit over the table to make sure it didn't burn.

"I think that's good, Ama," Ryou said and she nodded as she stopped and her fire vanished. When the feather landed on the table again there was some black marks that were from the fire.

Ryou picked it up and turned it around in his fingers examining it. He then looked down at the spell book and back at the feather. "I think we got it."

"I guess we'll have to find out then," Amane said standing up she started walking out of the library.

"Malik, Marik," Ryou called to the two teens and they walked out of the room they were in.

"Yeah, what is it?" Malik asked as he looked at the two younger kids.

"Do you want a break? Amane and I did something and we want to show everyone," Ryou said and the two Phoenix boys nodded.

"Sure thing," they said and so the four of them went to the main room where most of the pack was. Rakknar had brought the others together after Amane had told him what they were doing.

"Night," Ryou said with a tiny smile on his face as he stood next to his sister with a small blush on his face.

"What is it?" Night asked looking from one to the other. Only Marik and Rakknar knew what the two kids had done.

"We have something for you," Amane said as the two walked forwards. Ryou who had been holding the feather, gave it to her.

"It's something we made, it was from a spell book Rakknar had. We were going through it and we found this spell... it's supposed to make it so you can go out in the sun without getting burned," Ryou said.

"Thank you," she said taking the feather and feeling the magic that coursed through the small object.

NIGHT'S POV

I took the feather from the two youngest members of the pack. I had always hated that I couldn't go out in the sun so to think I may be able too was a great feeling.

I knew the best thing to do was to test it out but I was curious. "what's it made from?"

"It's a Phoenix feather with some of your hair wound round it, then we used our fire to cook it like the book said too," Amane told me.

"Well, there is nothing to it than to try it out," I said. I knew I could be out a little bit before burning so if it didn't work I wouldn't die that quickly. We all went to where there was a balcony and I held the feather in one hand.

"I hope this works," I heard Ryou tell Amane, I guessed they were a bit worried. Not only were they the youngest they had made this so if it didn't work they'd feel it was their fault.

"Don't worry so much," I told them as I stepped out. At first I didn't notice anything different with what was going on but then it was like I felt the heat of the day but it didn't do anything. It almost felt like there was a barrier between me and the sun. I put the feather in my pocket to see if I had to be in contact with it for it to work.

I still felt the power so I didn't need to directly touch it for it to work the way it was supposed to. "Normally you'd have to touch it, the spell said if you have hair from the person then it would negate that but only that person can use it," Ryou told me as if he'd read my mind.

"Can you read minds and never told us?" I asked him and he laughed a bit as he looked up at the sky.

"No, just thought you'd like to know," he told me as I flexed my dark wings in the sun.

"Thank you, both of you, I really appreciate this," I told them and I could tell they were smiling.

"You're welcome, we're always willing to help out," Amane said as she stood on the other side of me.

"It is a lot of help," I told him as I leaned on the balcony. I'd hated having to just stay indoors during the day. It helped that I could come out then as well. Especially if we were going to do something then.

"To think, there is magic that could be done between different species," Akefia said and I knew what he meant. Phoenix and Dragons rarely had any interaction from what I could tell and interacting with the lesser species was even less.

"I think Marik and I would be able to explain that," Malik said and we all turned to the twins.

"As you know, Rakknar had us sorting through some of the texts that are written in an ancient language," Marik started to tell us.

"Well, to catalogue all of them we had to briefly read them, that's why it's taking so long," Malik said. "But we found something that may explain why there is magic that spans other species."

"Why is that?" Korana wanted to know. We all did but she spoke up first.

"Well, I think it'd be better if we get the book, we can tell you much more clearly, as we said we just skimmed through these things," Marik told them.

"Alright, let's go," Rakknar said and I sighed a bit. I had almost gotten used to being in the sun. I would have to get used to it really so I wouldn't think about it. I would keep my feather with me not just because it was something that would help me but also since it was a gift from two friends.

We walked through the hideout until we got to the library. Malik and Marik left to the other room. Since there were too many of us to fit in there. They brought out a book and put it on a table. I'm still not sure how we all fit around the table but after a while we were all listening to the two boys.

"Here it is," Marik said as he looked up from the book for a little while. "The legend about how the kingdoms were created."


	9. CHAPTER NINE:THE LEGEND OF THE KINGDOMS

**Gates of Destiny**

**CHAPTER 9: THE LEGEND OF THE KINGDOMS**

MARIK'S POV

Malik and I looked down at the book. I never thought I'd be grateful for our past with learning how to read the ancient texts. I looked at the group around us as I read a bit of the texts. "A long time ago there were no kingdoms at all, there were just the species living like most do now."

"however," My brother continued. If we weren't identical twins I'd be shocked seeing as we easily continued what the other had been saying. I was a bit ashamed that I'd been scared of him for a while, it wasn't like he was ever going to hurt me. "The dragon and Phoenix species were the two strongest."

"They sometimes fought for power against each other thinking one was better than the other," I said. "They were horrible battles and most of the other species chose not to pick sides in the fights."

"Yet, despite these fights there were still some that would go to each other and help each other, creating magic and other things like that. It was a great time of but also a horrible one."

"One day, a person from the Dragon and Phoenix clans decided that the war was getting ridiculous. They decided that there was no way they could keep it up. Thus, they decided to split them up. If the Phoenix and Dragon clans didn't have much communication and a treaty then the world would be safer for everyone," I continued.

"Agreeing to this the two made kingdoms leaving some land for the other species that weren't able to be stronger. Of course, this meant they left all the magic that they had once created behind. Anything that brought the species together were thrown away," Malik added.

"To try and prevent war the lesser species tried to help out with creating different treaties but it didn't always work. Most of them tried staying out of the way of the Dragons and the Phoenix since they knew that they would be in more danger if they didn't," I said my eyes narrowing a bit at the thought of our people doing this.

Of course, I knew the person who had over-thrown King Aknamkanon and his wife were evil and they had to pay for killing my king and queen and enslaving the princes but that still didn't mean we were all like that. I guess there was bad blood everywhere. I looked up at Bakura. We hadn't really gotten along. Ever since he'd found out I was a Phoenix.

The rest of his family were fine with what I was but Bakura just seemed to hate my brother and I.

I looked at Malik, he gave me a knowing look. Bakura would hate me even more if he knew what I was planning on doing. Something that was in the book that we didn't want to mention may have been the reason for everything and we needed to keep it a secret.

Especially from Akefia.

I just knew that he would not approve of what the two of us had in planned but it may need to happen. If it came down to it I'd rater not give them what they wanted.

We soon finished reading the legend to the rest of them and they all understood what was going on in the world. "So... this is just the tail-end of a long fight?" Amane asked.

"Seems so," I replied closing the book and Malik took it back to the other room so we could continue working on the books.

Everyone started to leave but before he could I grabbed Bakura's arm. "What do you want?"

"Listen... I have something important to tell you," I said narrowing my eyes a bit. I didn't much like him but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try and help if I could.

"What is it?" he asked turning to me. I looked at his crimson eyes. They showed so much and yet so little at the same time. As if he was just letting me see what he wanted me to see and nothing more or less than that.

"It's about the legend... I... didn't want to say anything in front of Akefia about it but..." I said not sure how to say it.

"What about my brother?" he asked. I knew that had peaked his interest. For all the flaws Bakura had he had a fierce loyalty and love for his siblings. I could respect that about him.

"You see, there was another part of the legend that kind of involves him," I told him. "Not him directly but... well... it must be him now."

"What are you talking about? Will you just tell me already?" he asked me a bit annoyed that I wasn't just coming out with it.

"Alright, well, the legend also says that when the two clan heads were talking about the treaty someone came up and told them a prophecy of sorts. It basically said that the Phoenix and Dragons were the most powerful creatures to exist, thus, if they were to sire a child with both Dragon and Phoenix blood, then her or she would become the most powerful creature. However, the power would only come if that person was the leader or soon to be leader of the clan," I told him.

"So what are you trying to tell me?" he asked and I sighed a bit at him before telling him.

"The people who overthrew our King wished for power. If he knew about this legend then he killed your kingdom in order to get to your family so that they could have ultimate power," I said. "Meaning they were after Akefia since he is next in line for the throne."

"So why are you telling me this?" Bakura wanted to know and I thought about how to phrase what I wanted to tell him.

"I know they'll come looking for you. They probably know you got away and are probably angry about that. We cannot let them get Akefia because if we did then the whole world would be in danger. If they were able to get the most powerful creature in the world then there wouldn't be much left for us," I told him.

"And you think this new king of yours is after my brother and all this supposed power?" Bakura asked me. "You said it had to be someone of royal blood."

"I think he is and he does have royal blood, Akunadin is the brother of Aknamkanon," I said fury in my eyes at the thought. I would think that brothers would stick together. Even when I was afraid of what Malik could do I still stuck by him. I knew I'd be better off if I'd stayed away from him but I couldn't because he was my brother.

"So, say you're right, what did you want me to do about it?" Bakura asked me and I closed my eyes for a bit.

"Akunadin knows about your family, at least enough, you and Akefia are the same age, they may mistake you for him," I told him hoping he wouldn't just call me an idiot and never want to hear about this again.

"So if they come calling you want me to pretend that I am the crown prince so that they won't capture my brother?" Bakura asked and I nodded a bit.

"You're not just shitting with me are you Marik?" Bakura asked. I think that was the first time I'd heard him using my name.

"No, I'm not," I said locking eyes with him and for a moment the two of us just stood there looking at each other as if not sure what to say about anything.

"Ok, I'll do it," he said.


	10. CHAPTER TEN:AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP

**Gates of Destiny**

CHAPTER 10: AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP

**BAKURA'S POV**

I watched Marik for a bit. It wasn't that I really hated him it was more that I just didn't like him because he hadn't told us what he was at first and besides. His kind weren't that great.

I guess I'm kind of being bias but still. Ryou and Amane have woken up with nightmares about that day a couple of nights in a row and it's annoyed me to no end.

So when he wanted to speak to me after that story about how the kingdoms were created I was confused. He told me about the fact that brining dragons and Phoenix together if the two leaders had a kid would be dangerous and should be avoided.

I knew he wanted me to take Akefia's place. It made a lot of sense. They would be looking for a boy so Korana couldn't do it. I would not put Ryou and Amane in harm's way even if they were to look old enough.

"Are you sure they'll fall for it and what will they do when they find out I'm not really the one they want?" I asked him.

"I think they might, it's worth a try and I doubt they'd kill you. They'd probably use you as bait to lure Akefia," Marik aid.

"And you're not going to tell my brother about this?" I asked. I was tempted to go over and tell him.

"No, I think he'd be against this and wouldn't care because he wouldn't want to put you in danger," Marik replied. He had a point there. Akefia would probably tell me that I was not going to go under any circumstances.

"You may have a point there," I told him with a bit of a sigh and then I thought of something. "Marik... you were one of the personal guards to the princes."

"Yeah, what about it?" he asked raising a blond eyebrow at me.

"Well... I was just wondering... see, we once had an ambassador go to the Phoenix kingdom and... she never came back," I said not sure why I was talking to him about Kisara.

"If it was recent I'd blame Akunadin for that," Marik replied. "From what I know there was no one, then again, once the new regime started we kind of high-tailed it out of there. My only regret is we didn't take the princes with us," Marik told me.

"Why didn't you?" I asked. He seemed as shocked as I was that we were having a decent chat.

"We couldn't get to them. We weren't always with them. We didn't really know what happened to them. When we went to their rooms they weren't there. To be honest we thought they were dead but we found out they weren't," Marik said.

"How?" I asked him curiosity getting the better of me at this point in time. I also wanted something to keep my mind off the fact that my brother might be in danger.

"As a show of power Akunadin had the King and Queen publicly executed. Malik and I were hiding at that point and we wanted to rush over and grab the three boys but we knew that there were too many guards so we'd only be captured. Atem and Yami are about the same age as you and Akefia and Yugi is the same age as your little siblings," he told me.

"He almost killed children?" I asked. If he had killed them I would hate this man so much. Even if he _had_ killed children. The children of my village since all of them were dead.

"Well... no... Yugi was crying at this point having just seen his mother and father murdered," he told me.

"I would expect he would be," I said shivering at the thought. I would hate to be him. I felt pity for the kid knowing how Amane and Ryou would be if they saw that.

"Akunadin just smirked at the three boys. Atem told him that he would pay for it but he just laughed and told Atem that he already had. He told Atem that he should be _honored_ that he was keeping them alive at all," Marik said spitting the world as if tasted foul in his mouth.

"Probably the same thing I would do," Bakura said. "I mean, tell him off like Atem did."

"Yeah, Atem is the oldest of the three by a few hours so he takes care of them a lot," Marik said.

"Korana takes care of the four of us, and I'm younger than Akefia, but if it were Ryou and Amane who were in danger I wouldn't hesitate," I said and he smiled with a nodded.

"I know. Well, he told the princes that they would serve him. Atem said there was no way he was going to do that. Akunadin told him he would so he got a magician who was loyal to him. The magician created magical shackles and they were placed around the princes wrists and ankles," Marik said and I saw that he looked rather upset.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to keep going if you don't want too," I said. I couldn't be angry with him. Korana said my anger was usually irrational and I didn't think before I acted. She was right of course.

"It's alright, you deserve to know, especially if you're going to be a decoy I guess I should trust you as much as you're trusting me," he said and I smiled a bit at him.

"You're not half bad, Marik," I said and he smiled a bit at me.

"You're a bit like Malik, you two don't always use your heads, instead you just act," he told me.

"Yeah, Korana tells me that all the time," I replied.

"Anyway, the magic in the chains would burn them if they didn't do what he wanted... he... he demonstrated it by... by using its power on Yugi," he said his anger seeming to rise. My eyes flashed as well at that statement.

"I'm sure none of them were happy about that," I said and he shook his head a bit.

"No, Atem and Yami were very concerned. In fact, Yugi was pretty much is bargaining tool in some ways. He wouldn't mind killing of Yugi if he had too to get them to behave. He knew Yugi wasn't that hard to get rid of. He couldn't fight," he told me.

"He's picking on the weakest, that's not a sign of someone who's strong, it's the sign of a bully," I stated and he smiled a bit at me.

"that's what Yami said. Akunadin used the magic on all of them. They passed out after a little bit. I was about to rush in there but Malik stopped me. He told me that we couldn't do anything right now. All we could do was run for it. One day we would get the chance to help them but as it was we were outnumbered. Akunadin had said that either we join him or we die. We chose neither. We ran off before anyone could stop us. We found Rakknar and you know the rest," Marik told me.

"OK, that's it, I'm going to kill this idiot," I commented and he laughed a bit though I could tell it wasn't humorous.

"If you do, let me and Malik have some of him," Marik told me and I nodded at the older teen.

"Sure thing," I said. "and if he's hurt Kisara it's going to be even worse."

"Who's Kisara?" he asked. I forgot I hadn't mentioned her name to him when I asked about him.

"The dragon who never came back," I replied and he nodded.

"Oh, well, we'll all show him what happens when you mess with us and the people we care about," he said and he reached a hand out to me. I looked at it for a while.

"Yeah, we will," I agreed taking the hand. It was at that moment that Marik and I really became friends, a friendship that would last us for a very long time.


End file.
